Silence is Golden? The Case of Two Whistleblowers in a Norwegian Municipality

Abstract

Characteristics and experiences of whistleblowers are an important field of research for work and organizational psychology. Detection and prevention of misconduct and crime is dependent on people internally who are not afraid to speak up and tell about their observations. Two key employees in the municipality of Grimstad in Norway reported separately about critical financial incidents in procurement of health services. They were ignored by the perceived power elite in the municipality. At the time of writing this research article, both whistleblowers are on sick leave. This article presents two whistleblowers who – despite perceived retaliation and reprisals - are willing to do it again. They simply define it as part of their job.